Lacrosse Nets Seven in First Home Game

Liberty's Karen Yates finished with one goal, one ground ball and a draw control in the Lady Flames' first ever home lacrosse game.

Liberty women's lacrosse hosted its first ever home game, Saturday night at Osborne Stadium, taking on NJCAA member Anne Arundel. Unfortunately for the Lady Flames, the night did not end in victory, as they were unable to halt the persistent Pioneers, 17-7.

Liberty falls to 1-4 on the season, while Anne Arundel improves to 5-0. The Pioneers opened the first half with a trio of unanswered goals to take an early 3-0 lead. Anne Arundel's Kaitlin Warf capped off the scoring burst, with her second goal of the game at 18:54.

The Lady Flames answered at 17:09, when Laura Miller (Jr., Woodbridge, Va.) found an open Lauren See (Fr., Strasburg, Pa.), who zipped it past Kirsten Dolle to trim the deficit, 3-1. The Pioneers countered with back-to-back goals from Cara Manas to stretch their advantage to a four-point margin, 5-1, with 16:03 left in the first half.

Chloe McIntosh (So., Dallas Texas) posted her first career goal for Liberty, with 9:30 remaining in the period, to reduce Anne Arundel's advantage to three, 5-2. Sierra Clearwater (So., Mechanicsville, Md.) helped Liberty cut it to a pair at 6:51, placing a shot past the goalie to make it 6-4. Anne Arundel's Jenny Miller tacked on two more goals for the visiting team to put the Pioneers up, 8-4, at halftime.

The Pioneers came out firing in the opening 11 minutes of the second period, going on a 6-0 run, to force a running clock with a 14-4 advantage.

Liberty got on the board in the stanza at 18:34, when Karen Yates (Sr., Lancaster, Pa.) picked up her fourth goal on the year, thanks to an assist from See. The Lady Flames were unable to pull any closer down the stretch. Kristin Crowley (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) netted the last goal of the game for Liberty, making the final score, 17-7, in favor of the Pioneers.

Anne Arundel's Andrea Zoolaskis paved the way for the Pioneers with four goals, followed by Warf, Jenny Miller and Kellie Kroneburger, who each finished with a hat trick. McIntosh led the Lady Flames in goals with two.

Dolle remained in goal the entire game for the Pioneers, finishing with 10 saves. Rebekah Leutters manned the net for Liberty, matching her counterpart with 10 saves.

Despite the loss, Liberty managed to win the battle for ground balls, edging the Pioneers 21-20. The Lady Flames were also successful on 10-of-18 clear attempts on the evening.

Liberty gears up for a quick turnaround as it heads to Loretto, Pa., for a pair of matchups. The Lady Flames open their two-game road trip on Monday against UC Davis. The opening draw is set for 4 p.m.